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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28496532">Love's Gambit</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeSleepySloth/pseuds/SomeSleepySloth'>SomeSleepySloth</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Chess AU [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shadowhunters (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alec Lightwood is a disaster, Alternate Universe - College/University, Chess, Fluff and Crack, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Meet-Cute, Meet-Ugly, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, TWI Alec, TWI Magnus, and also</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:26:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,021</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28496532</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeSleepySloth/pseuds/SomeSleepySloth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A fic wherein Alec goes the extra mile to impress Magnus, and it all goes wrong. </p><p>Or</p><p>"The college chess AU with TWI Malec you didn't know you needed" - AceOnIce, 2021.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Chess AU [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2229216</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>106</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Love's Gambit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceOnIce/gifts">AceOnIce</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I watched a couple of episodes of Queen's Gambit, AceOnIce showed me a Chess pick-up line. And so this fic happened.</p><p>Beta'd by the wonderful (read long-suffering) <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceOnIce/pseuds/AceOnIce">AceOnIce</a> who also made an awesome moodboard too.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
  
</p>
<hr/><p>It is a hot summer day and far too humid to be out, in Alec’s opinion. He’s trapped in a poorly-ventilated tent in the middle of the university’s courtyard along with hundreds of other students, all of them probably lured to Freshers Fair by the prospect of free goodies. Or due to peer pressure. Maybe both even. Suffice to say, he is absolutely miserable.</p><p>To make matters worse, the free goodies available aren’t exactly… attractive. Alec has collected six bottle openers, three tote bags, and a toothbrush. All of which would end up stashed in a drawer and thrown out at the end of the year. The toothbrush wasn’t even the weirdest gift being handed out; the Economics Society took that dubious honour. They had been giving out condoms in their gift bags and he had swiftly decided to steer clear of their taster sessions. Nope, not in a million years.</p><p>He had been dragged to the fair by Jace, except he had lost his brother somewhere in between the Frisbee Society and Harry Potter Club booths, leaving Alec to fend off the rather enthusiastic pitches from zealous members of the various clubs and societies alone. Not even his Resting-Bitch-Face, with the furrowed eyebrows, as Izzy very kindly dubbed it, was enough to keep them away.</p><p>Sighing for the third time in five minutes, because being jostled from side to side by rude and sweaty people ranks low on his list of “<em>Enjoyable Ways To Spend A Saturday</em>”, he decides to just head back to hall. It isn’t as if he will be able to go for all these clubs and societies. He’s had just one week of classes and he is already saddled with a month’s worth of workload. Saturday was meant to be his day off. Aside from plans to grab drinks that night, he had intended to catch up on some Netflix shows. Except after being dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn to queue for Freshers’ Fair, he is now exhausted enough to collapse into his bed the minute he goes home, drinks be damned. </p><p>Alec tugs his phone out to drop a text to his brother that he is ditching the fair and- in that brief moment of distraction- doesn’t notice another boy standing in front of him. He is sent crashing into the back of the poor boy.</p><p>“Oh my god, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” He blurts out, hands reaching up to steady the other boy. “I am so sorry about that!”</p><p>The other boy turns around, and for a fleeting moment, Alec is a believer of love at first sight. Because he is absolutely stunning. He isn’t conventionally handsome, not with the neatly gelled hair pressed flat to his scalp, or the lingering traces of baby fat still padding his cheeks, or the worn cardigan that Alec swears his grandfather owns a copy of. </p><p>No, but Alec finds himself captivated nevertheless, by the crinkling brown eyes, hidden behind a pair of glasses that make them seem bigger and brighter. And the cheerful grin that just lights his face up. Fuck, he is adorable. Adorably breathtaking.</p><p>“Yeah no, I’m okay, I’m okay. Don’t worry,” Pretty Cardigan Boy says as his hands pat his cardigan, as if to check that it is still in its pristine condition. Alec swears he is usually more cerebral than this, he couldn’t have made it into university otherwise, but he can’t stop staring at those pink lips, the way they move as he speaks. And the warm afternoon sun shines at just the right angle, reflecting off the glossy sheen on his lips. <em>Fuck</em>.</p><p>Alec startles out of his trance when a hand is thrust in front of him, by way of introduction.<em> Fuck</em>. How long had he been staring for? He clasps the other boy’s hand in a firm handshake as he regains his faculties; his fingers trail gently against a soft palm as they part, “Hi, I’m Alec, sorry, I couldn’t hear your name over all the noise just now. Could you repeat it?”</p><p>“Oh no worries! I’m Magnus!” he chirps.</p><p>“A beautiful name indeed,” Alec quips, with a slight tilt of his head, a gesture that he knows draws attention to the prominent tattoo by his neck, one that many others have lavished attention on. <em>Hook, line, and sinker</em>. </p><p>Magnus is indeed no exception, his eyes drift to Alec’s neck, widening slightly before he seems to catch himself and coughs awkwardly to break the spell.  </p><p>“Uhm, thank you? My mother gave me this name,” Magnus stammers. He waves his hand to gesture at the booth behind him, launching into his pitch, “Anyway, I’m the President of the Chess Society! Do you know how to play? We are actually looking for new members- ”</p><p>Alec’s eyes glaze over slightly as Magnus begins a spiel which consists of seemingly unrelated words like blitz, bullet, and Zugzwang, that he can barely understand. He belatedly realises he should have made more of an attempt to follow the conversation, but honestly, Magnus is speaking so earnestly and passionately about chess that he could have asked for Alec’s firstborn, and he would have happily signed them over. </p><p>The next thing he knows, he is putting pen to paper and filling up his name on the sign up sheets for taster sessions the following week.</p><p>“Bye Alec! Thanks for signing up! See you next week!” Magnus waves him off with another of those smiles — <em>that fucking smile</em>.</p><p>“I can’t wait to see you next week,” Alec says, enjoying how the other boy’s eyes bug out slightly at both the double entendre and the departing wink.</p><p>It doesn’t hit Alec until he approaches the exit that he has no fucking clue how to play chess. </p><p>And he has apparently signed up for a Chess Society taster session next week. </p><p>Where they would probably be <em>playing</em> chess.</p><p>
  <em>Brilliant.</em>
</p><p>~~</p><p>He spends the whole of the next week juggling learning a new game from scratch and adapting to the university curriculum, where the professors seem disinclined to do more than throw lecture notes at them. The notes could have been written in hieroglyphics for all he managed to decipher.</p><p>Jace had been of no help when Alec had told him about his impending clusterfuck; his brother had fallen off the chair from laughing too hard. Fucking arse, the next time that idiot asks Alec to help out with his coffee business, Alec is leaving him in the lurch. Either that or upending an entire cup of coffee over his stupid unhelpful face. </p><p>The old lady at the small bookstore he visited had been much more helpful; she had recommended a few beginner guide books and even rustled up an old chess set she had lying around. “My grandson left this here the last time he came to play with me, but he’s got a new one now. You take this and have fun with it,” she had said, giving Alec a grandmotherly pat on the back, that made him miss his own grandmother. He makes a mental note to call and check on her later that day; it had been a while since they had spoken, since he moved away to university.</p><p>Trudging back to hall with a chess set tucked under his arm and three beginner guides in his bag, Alec sets to learning all about the game. He is determined to attain a beginner’s knowledge, one that would allow him to <em>at least</em> play chess, without Magnus uncovering his lie of omission. </p><p>However nothing seems to go right for him, he spends far too much time trying to figure out which is the knight, which is the rook. And being confronted with technical jargon, which only serves to confuse him, doesn’t help either. He briefly considers calling up Izzy to ask for help; he knows his sister is dating Simon, the Chess Captain of his school. But he quickly abandons that train of thought; he is desperate, but not <em>that</em> desperate.</p><p>He considers worming out of the taster session. It was just a sign up sheet, not a legally binding document. Yet by some odd twist of fate, the first time he thought of that, his mailbox had pinged with a new email  —  </p><p>
  <em>Hi!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Thank you for signing up for the Chess Society’s Taster Session! </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The session will be held on the 30th of October at 3pm. We will be meeting at the South Cloisters, Idris Room. It will be an afternoon of fun, with food, chats, and most importantly, chess! Feel free to bring along any friends who are interested as well.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We look forward to seeing you then!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Best Regards,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Magnus Bane</em>
</p><p>
  <em>President of Chess Society</em>
</p><p>As he reads the preppy email, a brief image of Magnus’ bright smile flashes in his mind, and <em>fuck</em>. No, Alec is going to learn this game, by hook or by crook. </p><p>On Thursday, he bumps into Magnus on campus, except this time it’s Magnus who crashes into him. The other boy is tumbling out of the Priory Lecture Theatre with his coursemates, chatting about the jurisprudence lecture they had just had, and clatters into Alec when he trips over his own feet. </p><p>“Whoops, sorry about that, I didn’t see- ” Magnus apologises before he glances up, “oh, hey Alec!” </p><p>A small part of Alec rejoices at how the law student’s face lights up when he recognises Alec. The other boy is clad in a smart blazer and a pair of oxfords, a sharp contrast to his own hoodie and worn out Nikes, and far too formal for a school day. Not that Alec is complaining because there is just something about a well-dressed man that he loves, and he appreciates how the cut of the blazer accentuates Magnus’ slightly muscular frame. </p><p>“Hey Magnus!” he greets, trying to sound enthusiastic. Not that he isn’t, he is indeed excited to bump into the other boy on campus, but at ten in the morning, it is a Herculean task for his face to be capable of any expression aside from grumpy, annoyed, and sleepy.</p><p>Magnus steps closer and waves his friends off, sending a thrill of happiness through Alec at having the other boy’s full attention. “Nice to see you, how are you settling in?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s okay,” he replies, because that’s what one is supposed to say isn’t it? The answer to ‘how are you’ is never an invitation to blab about how he is questioning his decision to come to university and had possibly made a pro and cons list of running away to become a hermit last night. The fact that he would wither away without access to WiFi is high up on the cons column.</p><p>The misery must be bare on his face because Magnus laughs, fingers coming up to toy with the strap of his messenger back as he says in a commiserating voice, “We’ve all been there. It’s a cliché, but it does get better eventually. Or at least it did for me… ” He trails off with an awkward laugh and shuffles on the spot, before he perks up. “Oh! The taster session is this Saturday, will you be coming?”</p><p><em>Actually, no, because I’m an idiot who still has not learnt how to play chess. Although I’m a bigger idiot for having lied about it. And will probably embarrass myself in front of everyone else if I turn up, so no, I will not be going, </em>is what Alec should have said. </p><p>But confronted with Magnus’ hopeful expression, doe brown eyes gazing up at Alec, what he says instead is, “Of course, I can’t wait for it.”</p><p>“Really?” Magnus blurts out before he seems to register what he had just said. A blush creeps up his cheeks, as he continues, “I mean, that’s brilliant. Uh, I’ve got to dash now, got another lecture to attend. But I’ll see you on Saturday, yeah? Good luck with your lecture!” As Magnus disappears around the corner, Alec curses his fates for the umpteenth time. </p><p>If he had met Magnus at a party, he could have slowly built up a rapport before asking him out. Except the fates had seen fit to have their first encounter at the Feshers fair, where Alec promptly started off on the wrong foot by lying about his chess playing ability. What has his life come to, honestly? </p><p>~~</p><p>Alec wakes up on Saturday morning to a gloomy sky, which is fitting for his despondent mood. Reluctantly removing himself from bed, he slinks to his desk to pore over the chess set; maybe if he stared at it, the information would magically diffuse into his brain. It did work for his high school exams, maybe it would work here as well. </p><p>He deems it a lost cause two hours later.</p><p>When the clock strikes a quarter to three and his hour of reckoning approaches, he trudges towards campus, torn between excitement and dread. Excitement at the prospect of seeing Magnus again, dread at the thought of Magnus discovering that Alec is a fraud.</p><p>It takes him twenty minutes to locate Idris Room, which is tucked in the far end of the South Cloisters, and he bursts into the room slightly sweaty and out of breath. </p><p>“Sorry, sorry I hope I’m not too late!” he pants out at the door.</p><p>The boy at the door seems familiar, but it isn’t until he greets Alec that he can place him. He was one of Magnus’ friends that had been hovering behind him on Thursday. He is tall and gangly, with wiry hair that has white sprinkled all over, making him look older than he probably is.</p><p>“It’s okay, we are just doing introductions at the moment,” he drawls in a heavy British accent, “what’s your name? Let me get you a name tag.”</p><p>“Oh, it’s Alec,” he supplies.</p><p>The marker hovering over the sticker label stills for a minute. “Alec?” the other boy repeats, looking up to squint at him.</p><p>“Yeah, my name is Alec,” he replies, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. <em>Was there something wrong with his name?</em> “It’s A for Alpha, L for Lima-”</p><p>“Yes yes, I can spell,” Cranky British Boy retorts in a snippy tone. Not that Alec is bothered, because he is busy glancing around the room, hoping to catch sight of Magnus. He spots him standing by the snack table, chatting with two other girls, hands gesticulating wildly as he appears to be explaining something to them. </p><p>Magnus is wearing another cardigan today, the cream coloured top complementing his tan skin beautifully, his tailored trousers hug his arse perfectly, and he has ditched his pair of glasses for contacts today, offering Alec an unobstructed view of his beautiful face.</p><p>“Here, Alec, your name tag,” Cranky British Boy thrusts a name tag in Alec’s face, cutting short his admiration of Magnus, “I’m Ragnor, and welcome to our Chess Soc taster session. Feel free to help yourself to the snacks. And we will have our chess matches at half past three.”</p><p>“Thanks, Ragnor,” Alec says absent-mindedly, already making a beeline for Magnus. His heart does a little dance in his chest when the Chess Society President notices him when he is halfway across the room and offers him a friendly wave.</p><p>“Hello Magnus,” he greets.</p><p>“Oh! Hello Alec,” Magnus says, before gesturing to the two girls beside him, “this is Cat, and Dot, my fellow Chess Soc members. And Cat and Dot, this is Alec. He’s here for the taster session.”</p><p>The way the eyes of both girls widen in understanding, as if there is an inside joke Alec isn’t privy to, when Magnus does the introduction discomfits him slightly. Before he can puzzle that out, Cat nudges Dot and the both of them quickly make their escape, “Oh hello Alec, nice to meet you, we uh, we have to go set up the chessboards for later! See you!”</p><p>Well, Alec is most certainly not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He knows Magnus should probably be socialising with other students at the session as the president, instead of focusing on just Alec, but he won’t complain about getting more time with the other boy.</p><p>“Coffee? Or tea?” he offers, when the conversation hits a lull, seeing that Magnus’ cup is empty.</p><p>Magnus grimaces. “Neither actually. Raphael did the catering, and they both taste horrible.”</p><p>“Ah. Thanks for the heads up.”</p><p>They spend the next ten minutes chatting about how Alec is settling in at school, with Magnus offering a few tips, before Ragnor calls for them to gather for the chess matches. </p><p>“Alright everybody, welcome to the Chess Soc taster session. I’m Ragnor, the Vice-President. Magnus over there is our President.” Magnus duly waves to the crowd. “We’re very happy that you have taken the time out of your day to join us and we hope to see you at future Chess Soc meetings too. We are now going to break up into pairs. Those of us with a blue name tag are seniors. And we will pair up, a newcomer and a senior to each chessboard. There’re about five newcomers, so there's more than enough seniors to go around. You can ask the senior any questions you have about Chess Soc as you play. It’s an informal game, so have fun!”</p><p>“Come on,” Magnus drags Alec towards the other corner of the room where the chess boards are set up, “us seniors had to bring our own chess sets in, and I’m not letting anyone steal mine.”</p><p>Alec finds himself seated in front of a chess set that looks fancy to his untrained eye. He lifts a pawn up, and the small piece sits heavy in his palm. As Magnus occupies himself with setting up the board, Alece feels a sense of dread washing over him, the guilt sitting heavy in his belly.</p><p>“Okay, are you ready for the match?” Magnus asks, once he finishes setting up the board. “Also, feel free to ask me any questions you have.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Alec replies weakly, and moves his white pawn forward. He vaguely remembers reading about this opening move in his guide book. </p><p>“Anyway, the Chess Soc meets weekly, each month, we also hold a tournament with neighbouring schools. It’s an informal event,” Magnus says as he plays his knight.</p><p>Alec hesitates, fingers hovering between his rook and bishop, frantically trying to recall what his book said, before deciding to move his bishop. “That uh, sounds interesting,” he manages.</p><p>“It is actually!” Magnus explains, as he advances a pawn of his own, “we have an ongoing rivalry with our neighbouring school. And bragging rights are at stake.”</p><p>Between trying to keep up a conversation with Magnus and trying to figure out where to move his chess pieces, Alec finds his focus torn. He ends up giving monosyllabic replies and losing the match spectacularly within five minutes. </p><p><em>Fuck</em>.</p><p>He glances up and sees the other boy frowning. The lips that had been curling into an ebullient smile earlier are now pulled tight, and the warmness in those brown eyes is now replaced by a baffling sadness. “You aren’t really interested in joining Chess Soc, are you?” Magnus asks quietly, lowering his gaze to the chessboard, deliberately avoiding looking at Alec.</p><p>And Alec is left with little choice other than to confess. He exhales and answers in a subdued voice, “Yeah, I actually have no idea how to play chess,” before adding, “All I knew about chess before I met you was that Ron Weasley played it in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” He throws in the joke, hoping to diffuse the tension a little. </p><p>That admission elicits a laugh from Magnus, a cross between a snort and a sharp bark, before the frown settles back on his face. “Then why did you agree to come to our Chess Soc taster session? You could have just said no. I mean, if you notice how many people turned up today, a lot of people do actually say no to my recruiting speech.”</p><p>“I was sort of caught off-guard when I bumped into you. And when you did that whole speech, you were so enthusiastic that I felt compelled to sign up for the session,” Alec says. The downward tilt to Magnus’ lips feels out of place on his face; it doesn’t belong. Not after Alec has seen the other boy’s smiles —  there’s the bashful one when he had complimented Magnus’ name, the joyful one when Alec had signed up for the taster session, and the excited one when talking about chess. </p><p>The frown deepens. Magnus is silent for a moment as he rolls a chess piece in his fingers, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “You felt sorry for me then?” He asks, finally glancing up to make eye contact with Alec. The barely concealed hurt in his eyes guts Alec.</p><p>“No, no. I’m not sorry. Wait no, I am sorry for coming here under false pretences because I’m actually completely clueless about chess. But I didn’t come here because I felt sorry for you,” he answers firmly, determined to set the record straight. Because it is Alec who fucked up and hurt Magnus inadvertently. </p><p>Figuring that he might as well play all his cards, while he still can, he bends down to grab his backpack, and pulls out his week-old copy of <em>Chess for Dummies</em>. The president arches a brow at that, silently demanding an explanation, which Alec is more than happy to give. </p><p>“I tried to learn chess within a week, I went home and bought this book the day after Freshers Fair. There was a really nice lady down at Blackstone’s who donated a chess set to me. And I got all the way up to Chapter Three on this book. I really tried but I just couldn’t understand it…  I’m really really sorry about this all, Magnus,” Alec says, rubbing his sweaty palms on his trousers as Magnus remains quiet. </p><p>The silence drags on as the law student turns the Pawn over in his fingers wordlessly. When Magnus doesn’t speak up, Alec sighs and makes to put the book back. He has completely fucked this up because he was an idiot who had no idea how to impress a boy he liked, aside from lying about his chess playing abilities. He probably shouldn’t impose on Magnus further, not when there were probably other students who could <em>actually</em> play chess that might want to speak with the president.</p><p>He breaks the silence. “I think I should, uhh, go. I’m really really sorry about this Magnus,” he says, infusing as much sincerity as he can, because he is genuinely sorry about this entire clusterfuck, “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”</p><p>Pushing his chair back, he makes to get to his feet. But before he can rise, a foot hooks around his ankle, trapping him back in his seat. </p><p>“Wait,” Magnus says.</p><p>And Alec does just that; he sits and waits for the other boy to formulate his response. </p><p>“Alec,” Magnus begins, before he falters, “I… if…” He frowns harder, as if annoyed at how his brain refuses to cooperate with his mouth. He falls silent again and stares at the king clutched in his hand before he returns it to its spot on the chessboard as his face softens.</p><p>It seems like he has arrived at a decision. Alec fidgets slightly, feeling decidedly like a defendant awaiting judgement from a judge.</p><p>Finally, Magnus speaks up again. His voice is soft and shy, a far cry from the earnest one when he had first made his pitch for the Chess Society a week ago. “If you want, I could teach you chess?”</p><p>Alec visibly sags in relief, collapsing against the back of the chair. “Yes, yes,” he replies quickly, “yes, please.”</p><p>“Yeah?” Magnus glances up at Alec from beneath his eyelashes, a hopeful expression on his face.</p><p>“Yeah, I’d like that.”</p><p>And Alec is rewarded with the reappearance of Magnus’ bashful smile.</p><p>The smile widens when Alec grins back at him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading and I hope you have a nice day 💙</p></blockquote></div></div>
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